ROCK HILL, S.C. - The 2nd seeded Clinton College men's basketball team has secured their second straight NCCAA National Tournament appearance by defeating Paine College (Ga.) 95-79 for the South Regional Championship Tuesday evening inside the Rock Hill Sports & Events Center.
The Golden Bears, 17-9, will now head to Grace College, Indiana from March 20-23 for the NCCAA Nationals. Clinton will await the announcement of their seed and opponent in the 8-team bracket.
Senior guard and Region Player of the Year Cam Shannon led Clinton and all scorers with 25 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double along with 3 assists, two dunks and five steals in the victory. Shannon also shot a perfect 14 of 14 from the free throw line. Freshman guard Jordan Snipes Campbell was also a big plus off the bench scoring 18 points along with four rebounds, four assists and four steals.
Continuing the quartet of double-figure scorers on the night included seniors Isaiah Stone and guard RJ Bell as each tallied 13 points apiece with Stone adding 8 rebounds and 4 blocks while Bell had 4 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal. Junior wing Jordan Maxwell also played well scoring 8 points with 4 rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block and a highlight-reel dunk. Senior guard Paul Eromosele also added 8 points while guards Karter Allen and Tyler Hammond combined for 10 points as well.
Clinton shot 42 percent for the game and 31 percent from three along with making 33 of 38 free throws (nearly 87%) while Paine shot 39 percent. The Golden Bears also forced the Lions into 19 turnovers on the night on 13 steals while Clinton only committed nine turnovers. Clinton also finished the season undefeated at home at 10-0.
Paine (12-13) took their biggest lead of the game at 29-26 with 3 minutes to play in the first half before Clinton ended the half on a 15-2 run to take a 41-31 halftime edge. Paine would then climb to within three points early in the second half at 41-44 but that would be as close as they would get for the rest of the game. Clinton would extend their lead to as much as 21 points at the 10 minute mark leading 71-50 before Paine would eventually crawl to within 9 points at 83-74 with 4 minutes to play. However, the Bears would close them out finishing the game on a 12-5 run for the region title.